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Unemployment Rate

Share of the labor force looking for work and not finding it.

4.3%
Percent · latest, May 2026
1948-49 Recession1953-54 Recession1957-58 Recession1960-61 Recession1969-70 Recession1973-75 Recession1980 Recession1981-82 Recession1990-91 Recession2001 RecessionGlobal Financial CrisisCOVID-19 Recession4%6%8%10%12%14%19501960197019801990200020102020

Source: FRED · UNRATE · series · Jan 1948 to May 2026 · latest-revised

Reading it. U-3 headline rate. Leaves out discouraged and underemployed workers, which U-6 counts.

About the bands. Shaded spans are NBER-dated US recessions, drawn as factual overlays. They mark when the economy contracted, not why. Lining an event or policy up with a move on this chart is not evidence that it caused the move.